Tamworth airport control tower to close on weekends

COUNCILLORS at tonight’s Tamworth Regional Council meeting will be told the Tamworth airport control tower is set to be closed on weekends.

AirServices Australia intends to close the control tower on weekends from Saturday, June 1.

In a report to be presented by the council’s new airport manager Julie Stewart says the tower will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays in an effort to reduce AirServices’ staffing and overtime costs.

The report says over a 12-month period the Tamworth airport has less than 10,000 movements on weekends and that the weekend trigger figure for a fully staffed control tower was 80,000 movements.

Ms Stewart said other regional airports including Ballina, Port Macquarie, Dubbo and Wagga already operated without a control tower on weekends.

A second part of the recommendation being presented to council suggests that council request AirServices continue to review the requirement for the reduction of weekend services and reinstate the service should it become necessary.

It also suggests council request AirServices to liaise with other stakeholders to ensure they are not impacted by the reduction of services on the weekends.